Feed-cutter.



' No. 665,2ls. Paiented 1an. l, mol. l J. n. Hecx.

P EED GUTTER.

(Application med June 2, 1960.,

(No Model.)

C?. lgaegiar f6', -Mw

A UNrrnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEROME D. HECK, OF TENMILE, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALFRED E. HECK, OF FARMINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

FEED-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 665,218, dated January 1, 1901.

Application tiled J' une 2, 1900.

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JEROME D. HECK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tenmile, in the county of Upshur and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and useful Feed- Cutter, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in feed-cutters.

One object of the present invention is to improve the construction of that class of feedcutters which are adapted to cut straw, fodder, and green feed for dry feed or ensilage and to provide a simple and inexpensive one adapted to be easily operated and capable of cutting the fodder on an angle and of giving a double shear cut to the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feed-cutter ofthis character in which the stationary cutting-plate and the rotary cutter will be rigidly supported in proper relation to each other, so that the vibration or jar incident to a rapid operation of the cutter will not affect the cutting operation, especially after the feed-cutter has been in use for considerable time.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aplan View of a portion of the feed-cutter constructed in accordance with this invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevations of the right and left hand brackets or supports which rigidly connect or support the stationary cutting-plate and the rotary cutter. Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views of the same. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the right-hand bracket or support.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlngs.

1 designates a box adapted to contain the fodder to be cutand designed to be provided with any suitable means for feeding the same to the knives and provided with suitable bearings for a transverse main shaft 2, which extends beneath the box, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings. One end of the main shaft has keyed or otherwise Serial No. 18,864. (No model.)

secured to it a large bevel gear-Wheel 3Which meshesA with a smaller bevel gear-wheel 4, mounted on a cutter-shaft 5, at one end thereof, and at the opposite side of the cutter are arranged ily-wheels 6 and 7, which are mounted upon the adjacent ends of the main and cutter shafts.

angle to the main shaft, is journaled in suitable bearings 8 and 9 of right and left hand supports or brackets 10 and 11, which have inner and outer portions 12 and 13, arranged at an angle to each other. The inner portions lel planes, are secured to the box, at opposite sides thereof, and the outer portions of the brackets are arranged in parallel planes and are provided with the said bearings 8 and 9, which are located at the upper edges of the brackets. The shaft carries aseries of knives 14, which are located between the outer portions of the brackets, and each bracket has a substantially triangular frame and is composed of inner and outer horizontal portions or arms, a depending vertical portion 15, and an inclined brace 16. The horizontal arms, which constitute the inner and outer portions 12 and 13, are disposed longitudinally of the cutter, and the inclined brace 16 extends from the lower end of the depending vertical portion 15 to the outer end of the adjacent horizontal arm. The brackets are provided at their inner faces, adjacent to the inner terminals of the inner portions 12,with inwardlyextending transverselydisposed horizontal arms 17, arranged at an angle, as clearly illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawings, and forming supports for the ends of the stationary cutting-plate 18, which is disposed diagonally of the box, at the front end thereof. Y The knives 14, which may be of any desired number, are suitably supported by arms 19, extending from the cutter-shaft, near the ends thereof, and these knives, which are designed to be curved around the cutter-shaft, .are also set at an angle, whereby they are adapted to give a double shear cut. The said knives are designed to be so disposed around the shaft that as soon as one knife has completed its cutting operation the other knife will come into play, so that there will be a The cutter-shaft, which is arranged at an` of the brackets, which are disposed in paral continuous and even strain on the feed-cutters. It will be seen that the stationary cutting-plate and the cutter-shaft are both secured to the brackets or supports and that when the knives are properly adjusted relative to the said cutting-plate there will be no difficulty in keeping them in such proper relative position for the reason that the various parts constituting the brackets are formed integral with one another, being preferably, constructed. of cast metal. This gives great rigidity to the cutting mechanism,and the position of the knives relative to the stationary cutting-plate is not affected by any looseness or vibration of the framework.

The large bevel gear-wheel 3 is provided with a handle 20, and a band-wheel 21 is mounted on the adjacent end of the shaft2,and by this construction the feed-cutter may be either operated by hand or by a suitable power. In operation the fodder to be cut is placed in the box and is fed toward the knives, it being usual to feed the stalks endwise to the knives to insure their being cut in short lengths. When the fodder is fed square against the knives, the feed is cut into square blocks, while by disposing the knives and the cutting-plate diagonally or at an acute angle to one side of the feed-box the fodder will be cut on a like angle, and the feed thus obtained will have more of the inner ber exposed than when the knives are arranged at right angles to the length of the machine. The feed-cutter may be provided with any suitable shield for the protection of the operator, and the purpose of the fly-wheel is to insure evenness or smoothness in the running of the feed-cutter, as well as to give increased cutting power by reason of its momentum.

It will be seen that the feed-cutter is exceedingly simple andinexpensiveinconstruction, that it strong and durable, and that the cutting mechanism is rigidly supported, so that the knives and the stationary cutterplate will not be affected by any looseness or vibration of the framework of the machine.

What l claim is- A feed-cutter comprising a box, the brackets or supports comprising the inner and outer horizontal arms arranged at an angle to each other, the inner arms being secured to the box and provided with the inwardlyextending transVersely-disposed projecting portions 17, the depending vertical portions formed integral with the said arms and located at the adjacent ends thereof, and the inclined braces located at the outer portions of the brackets and extending from the lower ends of the vertical portions to the outer ends of the outer horizontal arms, the stationary cutter-plate arranged diagonally and secured at its ends to the transverse portions 17 and rigidly connecting the two brackets or supports, the cutter-shaft journaled on the outer arms, knives carried by the cutter-shaft, and means for rotating the latter, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JEROME D. HECK.

W'itnesses:

ALBERT J. ZIcKEFoosE, ARTHUR GUTRIGHT. 

